


Silent Treatment

by ghostiewriter101



Category: Outer Banks (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, I wrote this impulsively, JJ is a lovable mess, Miscommunication at its finest, Mostly Fluff, but only teeny bit of angst, idiots to lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-13 19:35:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28908696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostiewriter101/pseuds/ghostiewriter101
Summary: When JJ makes a drunken mistake at a kegger, he believes his friendship with Kie is ruined. Determined to fix his drunk emotional mishaps, JJ takes the advice of the other pogues in hopes that Kie will talk to him and they can work past it all. But he is met with the silent treatment. But JJ is resilient and he is hell-bent on getting Kie to talk him—though things may be more difficult than he assumed.
Relationships: JJ/Kiara (Outer Banks)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 62





	Silent Treatment

**Author's Note:**

> This is inspired by a scene from one of my favourite childhood ships. Any ‘House of Anubis’ fans will recognise which ship this comes from! But I just love it so much and had to put a Jiara spin on it. Hope you guys enjoy!!

JJ fucked up a lot of things in his life.

He doesn’t mean it in a ‘oh pity me!’ kind of way, not at all. It’s just a fact. Whether he means it or not, he has the funny little habit of fucking things up.

When he was seven years old, he created an elaborate mastermind plan to woo Cindy Price, his crush from two grades above him. It ended with a smashed fish tank, a week suspension and a desperate plea from the school for him to never attempt karate in an enclosed space ever again.

When he was ten years old, his mother left. Just disappeared with no warning. JJ was pretty sure there was a lot more to that one, but his little brain was _convinced_ it was because he didn’t clean his room whenever she asked, and the fact he never did his chores, or possibly even because he stole a sip of her beer (but that was _just_ one time).

When he was sixteen, he was stupid and reckless and against his better judgement, stole from Barry the crazed drug dealer. Except the other pogues also felt the wrath of that mistake, his childish vendetta that should’ve remained that— _his_. Next thing he knew Barry and Rafe had become some dream team to bring them down. He felt awful about that.

When he was seventeen, JJ started to consider himself a bit of a strategist. He was over the moon when he found out that John B and Sarah were alive and abroad, he was ready to avenge those who had wronged them. And when John B called up to ask for a distraction that would last long enough for them to carry out their plan? Well, who was JJ to not take it upon himself to create a distraction. Except, it ended with Kie almost drowning in the sewers whilst Pope and himself _just_ managed to pull the grate off in time. Kie kept that against him for a solid two weeks, _at least_. He deserved it.

But the moral of the story is that JJ fucks up. Always has and always will. So in hindsight, he should’ve saw this one coming. He should’ve been prepared for it. He was JJ Maybank and he fucked things up.

But he wanted this to be different. He hoped it would be different. And yet it seems to have just fallen under the category of ‘things JJ has ruined in his life’ along with the others. What was it this time?

His friendship with Kie.

His ten year long friendship with Kie.

His ten year long friendship with Kie washed down the drain because his emotional drunk-ass self couldn’t keep his stupid mouth shut.

That about catches you up to where we are now. JJ contemplating his life decisions and just waiting for a blackhole to appear out of nowhere and suck him in because anywhere would be better than _here_ and _now_.

“Dude, I think you are overreacting.”

JJ pushed the pillow away from his face, settling it on his chest as he sent a harsh glare towards John B. “Are you even listening to what I said? She probably hates me right now!” He huffed out, his lips jutted out in a pout.

Pope, who was sat up on the counter as John B continued to cook breakfast, only rolled his eyes at the blond. JJ always was one for theatrics. “I very much doubt Kie hates you.”

JJ stared blankly at the two of them. “I drunkenly confessed my feelings to her and all she did was stare at me before running off.” His throat burned as he retold the horror story of last night’s kegger. “Doesn’t scream ‘we are chill’ to me.”

“Well, maybe she was overwhelmed by your sudden confession.” John B piped up. “She will probably text you any minute now and you two can talk it over.”

“She’s ignoring my calls and texts. I’ve already tried it.” He muttered.

“Kie was drinking a bit, maybe you got lucky and she forgot?” John B tried again, but it was useless. JJ was pretty sure she was sipping on the same drink the whole night, he was positive that Kie remembered the shambles of his emotional ramble.

“Wish I was drunk enough to forget it.” JJ murmured bitterly.

“Look, you’re gaining nothing by just moping around here.” Pope spoke up, giving JJ a pointed look when he muttered something about ‘it’s not moping, it’s mourning the loss of my pride’ before he continued. “Just go and talk to her. _Pretty sure_ she has the morning shift, you could probably catch her before the lunch rush comes in.”

JJ glanced over at the clock that was hanging beside the door—to be honest, he was surprised it even still worked—and noticed that Pope was right. It was only eleven—yes, they had all just woken up, hungover and craving omelettes, sue them. If he was quick enough, he could catch up with Kie before _The Wreck_ got really busy.

“You know what,” JJ nodded to himself as he pushed the pillow away, standing up from his position on the couch for the first time that morning. “You’re right. I should just talk to her. I mean, it’s just Kie. I got this.” And with that, he grabbed the keys for his bike and ignored the mocking catcalls the boys sent his way and headed to _The Wreck_.

The first thing JJ noted was that Pope was right. The restaurant wasn’t too bad, a couple of booths and tables with customers loitered around for either a late breakfast or an early lunch. Another thing he picked up on pretty quickly that the waitress wandering between tables was _definitely_ not Kie. He didn’t know much about her other than her name was Kimberly and she had no sense of personal space. Well, at least when it came to him. He was also pretty sure he’d seen her down at _The Boneyard_ a few times but he wasn’t sure. To be honest, he didn’t really care.

JJ’s eyes wandered over the restaurant once again, convinced that he must’ve made a mistake. He was sure Kie had the morning shift today. In fact, he would put money on it if he had to. The pogues had picked her up countless times after her Saturday morning shift so they could spend the rest of the day together. It was basically a tradition now. An instinct you could even say. But JJ knew that Kie should be here.

“Hey, JJ! Fancy seeing you here.” A shrilled voice spoke up from behind him. He closed his eyes, mentally counting to three before he turned around to face the other waitress. Now, JJ wasn’t exactly the type of dude to pick up on small details or fixate his attention to miniscule matters, but he was one hundred percent sure that Kimberly’s appearance almost looked…purposefully dishevelled from what he had seen moments before when he entered the restaurant.

“Hey, Kimberly.” He gritted out through a forced smile. JJ had a million other things on his mind right now, and dealing with Kimberly definitely wasn’t one of them.

“Come here for the lunchtime special?” Her lips curved into a cunning smile, one that JJ was pretty sure was supposed to come off as attractive. The way she spoke was so suggestive, and he wasn’t even sure _what_ she was suggesting or if he even wanted to know.

“Uh, no.” He muttered awkwardly, cringing internally when she began to run her acrylic nails up and down his arm. “I was actually looking for Kie, is she around?” He piped up, hoping she would catch the hint that he wasn’t here for her. 

He watched her smile drop a little when she heard the other girl’s name, but she didn’t move her hand, it now resting on his bicep. “No, she didn’t come in today. Mike mentioned something about her not feeling great or something, I don’t know.” She shrugged.

“Oh.” JJ swore he felt his stomach drop.

“I’m happy to keep you company while you wait.” Kimberly spoke up, her voice a distant hum to JJ as he lazily shook his head.

“I should get going, thanks.” And with that, he was quickly leaving the restaurant, dread filling him with every step. Kie knew the boys had her schedule memorised—how else would they know when their best chances at free food were?—and she must’ve known that JJ would try and talk to her, his texts made that clear. He had seen Kie work when she was hungover and probably two aspirins away from passing out somewhere, she had a work ethic and she stuck to it no matter what. So for Kie to have _skipped_ a shift, to actively avoid JJ no matter what…

Oh, he definitely fucked up.

“What do you mean she wasn’t there?”

JJ rolled his eyes, fingertips pressed against his temples as he resisted the urge to slap the himbo sitting across from him. He had explained his visit to _The Wreck_ five times and yet _still_ John B was asking stupid questions.

“For the last time,” JJ huffed out, not bothering to hide his exhausted glare from his friend. “I went in, only Kimberly was there and she said Kie hasn’t been in at all today.”

“Oooh, you fucked up bad.” John B sang as he leaned back in his seat.

“Thank you, Captain Obvious.” JJ snapped.

“You don’t know she was avoiding you. Maybe she really is sick.” Theo piped up from his spot on the armchair, shamelessly cuddled up against Pope. The position didn’t look very comfortable but JJ doubted either of them cared.

“You don’t get it, Kie never misses her shifts. It’s very unlike her.” Pope spoke up, giving a sheepish look to JJ when he noticed how the blond had paled slightly at his words.

“God, what have I done?” He muttered to himself, running his hands over his face.

“Sarah will be here soon, maybe she’s talked to Kie.” John B suggested and as much as JJ appreciated the gesture, he also knew it was hopeless. It seemed like Kie was avoiding contact with the pogues altogether. He had already tried texting from John B, Pope and Theo’s phones but no reply.

His mind was reeling over his memories of last night. Admittedly, they were blurry and patchy and he didn’t remember what he said word for word. But he remembered most of it and that was enough to know that the avoiding act from Kie wouldn’t be ending anytime soon until he actually spoke to her.

He just needed to clear his head. He needed to be alone and just think and die of embarrassment alone as he reels over his drunken actions from the night before.

“I’ll see you guys later,” He murmured as he stood up, shoving his hand in his pocket as he grabbed the keys for his bike. For the second time that day, JJ was storming off and he honestly couldn’t bring himself to care about it. “Text me if she shows up.” He added, looking at them with a slightly hopeful gaze. Once they nodded, he was off.

JJ regretted his decision as soon as he made it to the beach. Not because he hated it because he wished he had been a little more clear-minded to have taken _Twinkie_ and his surfboard rather than ride here on his bike.

Then again, it was relaxing to just sit in the sand, zippo in hand as he fiddled with it between his fingers. He traced the letters on the side, his lips tugged down in a frown. He stared at it, retraced the engraving a few times. He flipped the lid, watching the flame appear and disappear. He kept repeating the action. Almost like he was waiting for it to feel different, waiting for that epiphany to hit him, that magic movie moment where suddenly the character knows how to solve their problems.

Except it didn’t happen.

JJ was left there, feet sunk in the sand as he glared at the lighter in his hand as though it had been the root of all his problems. He knew it was his fault but it was relieving to blame something else, even for a few seconds.

“Kiara, come on! Your mother will be upset if we miss lunch! You know how grouchy Louise gets when she’s hungry!”

JJ’s head instantly snapped up the second he heard her name, his eyes glancing around the beach in hopes of finding a familiar mop of curly brown hair somewhere nearby. The beach wasn’t too busy when he arrived, although since he was close to the road it meant he was also by some of the seaside shops—the tourist hotspots where you can get scammed with overpriced seashell necklaces and keyrings. It was a general hotspot on the island when it came to beach views so JJ really shouldn’t have been surprised that other people would be there. He was more shocked that his intent glaring and brooding may have actually worked some movie magic on him and led Kiara straight to him.

He noticed Mike first, standing beside his jeep with the boot door open, looking pretty impatient with the nervous glances towards his watch. JJ’s eyes followed his general direction to notice Kie walking out one of the seaside stores, box in hand and making her way towards her father.

Kie was there. Kie was right there—looking as well as ever—and not sick like Kimberly had said. And as pissed as he wanted to be—which he really couldn’t be considered he had been the one to scare her away in the first place—he didn’t even bother focusing at the fact his suspicion about Kie faking an illness was right and instead found himself beelining to where she was. He stumbled a little as he ran towards her, the sand making it a little difficult but he managed not to fall flat on his face.

“Kie, hey!” He called out to her, by the time he reached the car, the boot door was closed and Mike was already starting up the car.

Kie turned around, her eyes widening a little when she noticed a panting JJ approaching her. She glanced at her father in the car before she turned to the blond, an awkward smile on her lips. She almost looked like she was in pain just being near him.

“So…guess you’ve been too busy to reply to my texts, huh?” He attempted to joke but Kie just stared at him, her eyebrows drawn together a little like she was contemplating something.

“Are…are you giving me the silent treatment?” He asked, his voice was low and quiet, his lips jutted out in a small pout as he watched her closely. He knew he messed up but he thought they could at least work it out, he didn’t assume he’d be reduced to no talking privileges with her whatsoever.

Kiara looked at him, lightly shaking her head before she gestured to the car and taking a few steps towards it. JJ quickly grabbed her hand, pulling her back slightly so she couldn’t walk away just yet. He had been waiting to talk to her since last night, he wasn’t going to just let this chance go.

“Look…I-I’m sorry about last night.” He breathed out, trying to find both the breath and the words to apologise to her. “It was a shitty thing to do and I shouldn’t have thrown all of that on you without any warning. Just, please talk to me. I don’t want to lose you as a friend over something stupid like last night. You’re my best friend, Kie.”

She looked at him with those big doe eyes and JJ could’ve sworn his heart stopped for a second. He waited for her to say something, to do something. But all she did was stare at him. The longer she stayed quiet, the more nauseous he began to feel.

“Kiara, c’mon! We gotta go!” Her father called out from the open window, phone pressed between his ear and shoulder as he spoke away to who JJ assumed was Anna Carrera on the other side of the phone.

Kiara gave him a look, one that he wasn’t sure meant ‘sorry, maybe next time’ or ‘tough luck, see you never’ before she began walking towards the car door. But JJ couldn’t just let this end here. He’d be damned if he just let her walk away.

“Wait, Kie, meet me here later. At eight. Please.” He called out, watching as she turned to look at him with a slightly confused look. “Just give me one more chance. It will be worth it.”

“Kiara, in the car now!”

She looked at JJ as she opened the door, nodding for confirmation before she quickly slipped into the car. JJ wasn’t even sure if he waited until the car had left the carpark before he threw his fist in the air.

“One chance, Maybank. You better not fuck it up.” He muttered to himself. “Oh fuck me…”

“Bro, stop stressing out. You are oozing stress and frankly, it’s making me uncomfortable.”

JJ turned to John B, a slightly peeved expression on his face. He was beginning to regret asking the other pogues to help. But he also couldn’t remember feeling as nervous as he did right now. JJ had come to terms with his feelings for Kie long ago. Hell, he even tried to shoot his shot a couple of years ago and that had only resulted in a rejection and the ‘no pogue on pogie macking’ rule. He accepted that his feelings for Kie were not returned and that he would probably get over them soon. He was a young hormonal teenage boy and Kie was his super-hot friend who he could joke around and smoke a blunt with. It was inevitable for him not to catch a wee crush on her, they all did. Expect John B grew out of his crush and so did Pope. And JJ thought he would too. That one day he would be able to look at Kie and not feel his heart stop, or find himself staring at her when she smiles, or even catching himself instantly looking at her after he told a joke because he wants to know if he made her laugh. He thought all of that would stop.

Spoiler alert: it never did.

After everything they went through, JJ’s feelings for Kie only grew stronger and he couldn’t stop himself from falling. But he respected Kie and so he promised himself that he wouldn’t pursue those thoughts again, those nasty little thoughts that appeared in his head at two in the morning when he couldn’t sleep and let him imagine a life where they were much more than friends, a life where he wouldn’t feel guilty for staring at her legs too long whenever they go to the beach and she is wearing a new bikini or give him an excuse to just grab her hand at any time during a kegger and dance with her because she was his and he was hers. He kept everything bottled up because the last thing he wanted was _another_ rejection from Kie to strain their relationship.

Because as his feelings grew stronger, so did his appreciation for the friendship he did have with her already. He didn’t want to ruin the bond they have, the one where they can drink a couple of beers and hang out on the hammocks until the sun come up, or tease and flirt with each other until they can make the other one blush. He would rather have a friendship, a purely platonic bond with Kie than have nothing at all. He wanted Kie in his life, he needed her in his life. And if that meant suffering through the rest of his life withholding his love for her to himself, then so be it.

“No, I will not stop stressing out, dipshit. I’m lucky enough she even looked at me, let alone agree to meet me here.” He huffed out, rubbing his sweaty hands on his shorts. God, it boggled his mind that she had this effect on him, that she could make the smooth, suave JJ Maybank almost shit his pants because the nerves won’t go away, because all of this means so much to him. 

“Geez, rawr, kitty got claws.” John B muttered as he watched JJ look over the setup once more. It was not very JJ-like, if we are being honest. It was Theo’s idea. JJ wasn’t actually sure why he agreed to it, he just remembered Theo going on and on and on about ‘romcom recovery moves’ and how it would ‘be beneficial towards the story he is totally not writing about their relationship’. To be honest, he zoned out pretty quickly and just did whatever he could to shut the other up. Now he was standing next to a picnic blanket and a basket full of the boys’ attempts at creating something edible.

It gave off date vibes. JJ didn’t want to give date vibes. Of course, the idea of it being a date made his heart do little somersaults, but he just wanted to redeem his friendship with Kie before anything else. The setup was definitely not giving buddy vibes.

“This is gonna end badly.” JJ sighed, a quick glance at his phone as he contemplated whether he had enough time to de-assemble the picnic they set up. He had ten minutes. That was plenty of time, right? But Pope took one look at the doubtful expression on the blond’s face and quickly swooped in.

“You’ll be fine, Jay. This isn’t just some random chick, it’s Kie. You got this.” He said with a reassuring pat on his shoulder, but JJ only nodded in response. And with that, the boys wished him one last good luck before they bounced, leaving JJ alone to wait for Kie.

He took a seat on the picnic blanket, an uncomfortable tug in his gut making him feel queasy about the whole situation. He took a few deep breaths—a fancy wee trick Sarah had taught him when he was feeling a bit anxious or on edge. He had to admit it did help a little. A few moments focused on counting his breaths rather than thinking the possible outcomes of his meeting with Kie. A nice momentary distraction.

He glanced over his shoulder, waiting for any sign that Kie had arrived. She hadn’t. He snuck a glance at his phone and saw the time.

**_19:55_ **

Five minutes.

“It’s just Kie,” He whispered to himself, a feasible attempt of reassuring himself. “You know Kie, it’s fine. Everything will be fine.”

Five minutes passed. There was no sign of Kiara. He gave her the benefit of the doubt.

Then five more minutes passed.

Then ten minutes.

Fifteen.

Twenty.

The minutes just kept passing.

He looked back at his phone.

**_20:35_ **

It was official. He had been stood up by Kiara Carrera.

JJ contemplated a lot of things.

He contemplated lashing out in a blind rage and destroying the picnic, hoping that by releasing his anger he would be able to gain some clearance and feel a little better.

He contemplated just sitting on the blanket for the rest of the night and hoping the tide would wash away the scrap remainders of his dignity.

He even contemplated getting drunk off his ass for the second night in a row and hope he could numb his thoughts (but he instantly scratched this option out after the painful reminder that alcohol was the reason for the mess he was currently in).

JJ had contemplated so many options on how he could spend the rest of his night and yet he found himself on his bike, riding straight into the heart of kook territory because he was _done_. The last twenty-four hours have been the longest hours of his life. Thoughts of his drunken confession and the status of his friendship with Kie had been plaguing his mind all day. He had been scraping at anything he could to mend his mistakes. Because for once in his goddamn life, JJ actually wanted to fix his mistakes.

But it seemed as though the universe was just against him, wanting to leave this tragic day among the others he ruined and fucked up.

The one thing the universe happened to forget is that JJ Maybank was not a pushover. He was stubborn. He grew up in _The Cut_ , where everything was limited and had a timer on it, just waiting for it to blow up in your face or send you to jail. He grew up with the mindset that everyone was against you and the only person you could trust was yourself.

The universe was just another power that was against JJ, just as cops like Shoupe had been after his ass since he could even walk. That was never going to change. JJ Maybank was not a lucky guy, he wasn’t the type of person people praised or idolised. With a heritage like his and a name like that, he had the world against him from the moment he was even brought into it.

But he learnt to survive. He learnt to outsmart the cops. He found people he could trust. He took his life in his own hands and said ‘fuck you’ to the universe. And now he will be damned if he lets the universe ruin his chances of keeping one of the best things that ever happened in his life away from him.

If Kie didn’t come to him, that was fine. Because he was going straight to her and he was going to fix it. He had to fix this. He didn’t want to imagine a world without Kie in his life. The mere thought of it made him sick to his stomach.

That is how JJ found himself parking his bike a couple of streets over from the Carrera household. The last thing he needed was some kook snitching to her parents or for her parents to even know. And as he approached the house and noticed the extra cars in the driveway, he couldn’t help but be further relieved at his decision.

She had family over. The universe really was pulling all the strings.

He moved silently through the night, his body on alert as he made his way to the side of the house. As he passed by the windows, he could hear the laughs and cheers and murmurs of people inside. For a second, he dreaded the thought that Kie would be down there with them, that his plan had a major flaw in it that he couldn’t fix. But it only took a couple of seconds for him to remember that this was Kie. The same Kie who did her damn best to avoid her kook family from her mother’s side like they were the plague. She always complained to the pogues when they visited, told them of all the excuses she would use to escape these functions as quickly as she could.

With that reassurance, JJ kept sneaking his way around the house until he stopped under the window he had used as an entrance many times before this night. He took another glance at his surroundings, making sure that no nosey neighbours or surprise guard dogs were anywhere near before he began to use the gutter pipe to scale the side of her house.

It was fidgety and dangerous and really took a knack to do. Luckily for JJ, it’s a skill he’s been mastering since he was fourteen, plus he learnt his lesson after he broke his arm during one failed attempt and had to spend the whole summer in a cast.

Once he made it to the top, JJ’s fingers gripped the slightly out-jutting pane of the window and used it as a leverage as his boots made contact with the small outer sill. Once his position was as secure as it could be, he quickly began to knock on her window—the curtains were closed but the lights were on and he just hoped Kie would move quickly before he fell off her window. It really would be the cherry on top of his shitty twenty-four hours if he ended it with a trip to the hospital.

He counted the passing seconds as he waited for Kie. Thirty seconds. Thirty dreadfully long seconds before the curtain was pulled back. Before she even had time to process the unexpected visitor on her window, the glint of desperation in his eyes and strained look on his face must’ve given away his discomfort because Kie was quickly opening her window and letting the blond inside.

He stood in the middle of her room, a little awkward and tense as he watched her close her window once again. He glanced around her room, noticing that thankfully her door was already shut. By the looks of her laptop abandoned on her bed, he guessed she wasn’t busy. It stung a little. A part of him was hoping to have interrupted some very important task that would explain why she never showed up. But here she was, watching some casual Netflix on a Saturday night.

He turned back to her, noticing the sheepish look on her face as she stared back at him. For a moment, JJ had to remind himself that she stood him up, that he couldn’t just drop to his knees right there and beg her to speak to him. No, he still had some of his dignity left—a very small amount at that, but still some. And he had been trying so hard to fix this between them, he was putting in all the effort. It was her who was avoiding him, who stood him up. He had a right to be a little pissed, to show up here and say what he desperately needed to get off his chest. And considering the deafening silence between them right now, it didn’t look like she was going to even bother talking anytime soon.

He saw her eyes glance over his shoulder, he knew her room well enough to know that the door was in her line of vision. Before she even had a chance to step around him, he quickly took one closer to her, finally speaking up.

“Kie, wait,” He wished his words came out more confident and firm, but they came out just a little louder than a whisper. “I…I have been trying to talk to you since last night, try and make this right.”

He waited for a response. None came. She lifted her hands, maybe to try shoo him off or simply flip him off but he didn’t give her the chance. Out of instinct, he grabbed her hands. When she didn’t pull them away, he squeezed them gently and continued.

“I don’t know what else you want me to do here. I apologised for last night, what I did was shitty and I shouldn’t have put you in that position. I am sorry, I really am.” He confessed, swallowing hard when she didn’t do anything but look at him with an expression he wasn’t sure how to interpret.

“But I don’t regret what I said, Kie. I wish it hadn’t happened the way it did, but I meant what I said. I…I love you. And not in some crappy best friends forever way,” He breathed out, his chest feeling tight like his sober confession was squeezing his heart, desperate to not make the situation even worse. “But in a ‘every time I look at you I swear the world around me stops because nothing will ever compare to you and I am completely happy if this is how I go because at least I die seeing something that makes me irrevocably happy’ kind of way, you know?” He tried to laugh it off, make the atmosphere a little more light-hearted. But her silence only confirmed that his attempt was useless.

“Kie, you’re killing me here!” He probably sounded like a whining little child but he couldn’t even bring himself to care. He felt like he was talking to a brick wall. An extremely gorgeous brick wall that looked downright adorable with those big doe eyes of hers.

“I don’t want you to feel like you have to say you love me back or that you feel even the remotest of romantic feelings for me. I get it, the no pogue macking rule, I respect it.” He breathed out, giving her hands another desperate squeeze. “But I just want my friend back, alright? We can pretend this whole thing never happened, just come back to me. Be my best friend, be the one that yells at me whenever I steal your food and scold me to put on sunscreen before we go out on the _Pogue_ and laugh at me whenever I’m hungover. Just please come back to me because I love you too fucking much to lose you and I need you in my life and I just need you to give me some sort of sign that we can get past this because I would kick myself if I lost you over something so—”

Before JJ could even take a breath and finish his ramble, Kie’s lips were on his.

At some point during his little breakdown, she had pulled her hands out of his and now they were on either side of his face, pulling his lips closer to hers. JJ froze, not quite sure what was happening or if he was imagining the whole situation. Maybe he hit his head and he was in a coma and this was all some crazy fever dream—because for some damn reason, that seemed far more comprehensible.

But then he felt her fingers trailing along his jaw and down his throat before she was swinging her arms around his neck to be closer to him. JJ seemed to snap back to reality, his lips moving feverishly against hers in attempt to match the sheer passion that she was kissing him with. His hands automatically landed on her waist, tugging her a little closer and suddenly they were slowly taking steps back. Their lips working together, little pants of air shared in between kisses until JJ felt his legs hit her bed. His fingertips began to wander beneath her shirt, the need to feel her skin was beyond explainable. His mind felt fuzzy, like there was something else he should be doing right or something he should remember but he couldn’t even bring himself to care. All he could think about was her.

_Kiara. Kiara. Kiara._

And just when he was ready to fall back onto that queen sized bed of hers and pull her down with him, the door was thrown open. JJ and Kie tried to untangle themselves as quickly as they could, look as innocent as possible to the intruder. JJ swore his stomach dropped at the thought of one of Kie’s relatives, or worse Anna Carrera herself, finding him lip-locked with her daughter. His cheeks burned at the thought of it. But it wasn’t a Carrera at the door. No, instead it was Sarah Cameron who had comically thrown her hands over her eyes.

“PG, guys! PG!”

The couple let out a breath as Sarah eventually dropped her hands, looking at the two of them with a grin on her face.

“Great timing, Cameron.” JJ muttered, running a hand over his face with hopes that the blush on his cheeks would die down.

“You know it, Maybank.” She retorted, wiggling her eyebrows before she turned to Kie, handing her the bag she had been carrying, the one JJ hadn’t noticed until now. JJ frowned a little when he saw Kie happily accept it, quickly scouring through the bag’s contents.

Kie quickly pulled out a small whiteboard, one no bigger than a class jotter. It had a small, thin rope attached to it and JJ watched as Kie slipped it over her head. JJ opened his mouth, questions on the tip of his tongue but Sarah bet him to it.

“I hope you do know that she is contagious, by the way.” Sarah snickered, watching as the confusion on JJ’s face only grow.

“What?”

Sarah frowned. “Kie, she’s contagious.” And when he still looked like a lost puppy, she continued. “She’s got laryngitis, voice box is basically gone. Doctor has put her under strict orders not to talk for at least a week. Pretty sure making out goes under the same category.” She said with a shrug.

And just like that, things began to piece together. “So that’s why you haven’t been talking to me!” He yelled out enthusiastically, his mood doing a complete one-eighty.

“Right, well…I’m just gonna…head out…” There was silence as Sarah slowly walked back towards the door before she disappeared, door closing behind her as she left the couple alone.

JJ stared at Kie, a smile on his face so big that it almost hurt. He had ran around thinking he had been a victim to Kiara Carrera’s silent treatment when in reality, she just couldn’t talk.

“So this is why, huh?” He spoke up, the cheeky grin not leaving his face.

Kiara rolled her eyes, grabbing the whiteboard pen Sarah had also purchased for her before she began to write her response. _‘Yes, dumbass, that is why.’_

“Why didn’t you tell us sooner?” He asked, eyebrows furrowed together slightly.

_‘how could I? I was under strict orders not to speak, apparently if I left it any longer I could’ve permanently damaged my vocal box. I couldn’t even leave the house alone until Sarah dropped this off’_

JJ was beginning to feel a little stupid now as he thought back to the last week or so. He had a vague memory of Kiara coughing a little, complaining about a sore throat as they passed a blunt between each other. But it was just that, he assumed that maybe his cousin had just whipped up something a little stronger than what Kie was used to and it was hitting her a little different. He didn’t think much about it at all until now. And now he understood why she hadn’t turned up to the picnic. Well, he kind of did. To be honest, it was the last thing on his mind and a part of him, deep down, was glad it never happened. He didn’t trust the food they made.

“You could’ve at least texted back.” He said, watching as she opened the bag once again and pulled out her phone.

_‘I lost it at the kegger last night. Found it this morning before my appointment, the screen was shattered so I sent it to get fixed. Sarah picked it up from the store on her way over, sorry :( ‘_

JJ pressed his lips together, contemplating his next question. His mind reeled over the kiss, he was pretty sure that was Kie confirming that she returned his feelings but he just couldn’t forget the look on her face last night, moments before she ran off after his confession.

“So…you weren’t ignoring me today because of last night?” He asked her in such a soft voice, it was almost so uncharacteristically JJ. He couldn’t look at her though, his eyes anywhere but her as he listened to the squeaking of her pen as she furiously scribbled her answer down.

_‘no, of course not! I didn’t want to ignore you, Jay, I promise’_

“I don’t know,” He muttered with a shrug. “You ran off and I thought I had upset you, or pissed you off or something.”

_‘my throat was so sore before the kegger but I didn’t want to miss out so I went anyways. I didn’t talk to anyone, just danced tbh but when you confessed, that’s when I realised I didn’t have my phone. I ran off so I could actually talk to you but you were gone and I spent the rest of the night looking for my phone’_

His eyes read over her words once. Then twice. He kept reading over it just to make sure that he was reading it correctly. “So my stupid drunk confession didn’t scare you off?” He asked hopefully.

He watched her lips quirk into a smirk before she shook her head.

“And…would I…I mean…do you…you know…like me back?” He asked, his eyes narrowed slightly as he awaited her answer.

She shook her head. JJ felt his face fall.

“Oh.” He gulped, looking down at his shoes as he awkwardly began to scratch the nape of his neck. “Well, that’s totally okay with me, obviously! I mean I respect that. I can’t—I mean, I wouldn’t want to force you into something that you don’t want or—” He paused when he felt a small tap on his arm. He looked up, now noticing how much closer Kie was to him and the new writing on her whiteboard that she was holding on display for him.

_‘I don’t like you, JJ Maybank. I love you, I am in love with you’_

JJ’s face instantly broke out into a massive grin as he read the words over again and again, mouthing them as he did so. His gaze caught Kie’s, her grin mirroring his own and soon enough he was throwing the whiteboard into some corner in the room and pulling her into him until they stood chest to chest.

“I can’t wait to hear you say those words.” He whispered to her, gently pushing some hair out of her face, his fingertips ghosting along her jaw and chin before they began to trace her lips. He stared at them for a solid few moments before he began to lean in, desperate to feel her lips once again. But before he had the chance, she was pushing him away slightly and shaking her head.

“Oh c’mon, you didn’t have any issues before!” He whined childishly and Kiara only grinned in response and she leaned toward him, pressing a small trail of kisses along his jaw and cheek and just at the edge of his lips before she stopped and pulled away once again.

JJ groaned, letting out a small huff as he quickly turned their positions around so that Kie was falling back onto the bed and he was leaning over her. He watched her closely, eyes focused on the lips that was snug between her teeth as she looked up at him with that _innocent_ look, the one he knew better than to believe. He took a deep breath, his hand that wasn’t propping him up slowly began to trail up her side.

“You’re a minx, Kiara Carrera.” The grin on her face told him that she took pride in such.

He leaned down, their faces barely an inch apart, a mischievous wee smirk tugging on his lips. She could feel his breath fanning over her skin, the usual scent of him was overwhelming at such a close capacity, and yet she resisted the urge to pull him even closer, feel him even closer. Her hands moved to his shoulders, clenching the fabric of his shirt between her fingers, her lips mouthing his name. With her hair sprawled out beneath her, cheeks flushed and a small glimpse of desperation shining in her eyes, JJ couldn’t help but think she looked absolutely beautiful in this position. 

“Just you wait until your vocal rest is over, sweetheart, then we’ll see how easy it is for you to stay silent.”


End file.
